The Hindu : The right and sensible decision

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 15, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

The right and sensible decision

THE VAJPAYEE GOVERNMENT'S decision not to send troops to occupied Iraq will be widely welcomed. It is the triumph of democratic national opinion and political good sense over vacillating tendencies and grandiose visions of realpolitik, which showed scant regard for the nation's independence of foreign policy, a parliamentary resolution, the views of Opposition parties, the dignity and interests of the Indian armed forces, and the overwhelming national mood. Staking the life of Indian soldiers and expending national resources in the U.S.-U.K. project of consolidating an illegitimate act of aggression against a sovereign country would have been a surrender of the core principles of Indian foreign policy as well as dangerous adventurism. It is clear that in a house divided, the Prime Minister exercised his prerogative and determined that in the given circumstances, there was no question of sending Indian troops to be part of a `stabilisation force' in Iraq. It is equally plain that the United States is not going to be pleased with the rejection of its `request', even if the rejection is couched in diplomatspeak.

In providing an explanation of its decision, the Indian Government has cited long-term national interest, India's close ties with the Gulf region as a whole, and growing relations with the United States as relevant factors. While reiterating India's willingness to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people, it has highlighted the absence of "an explicit U.N. mandate for the purpose" as being decisive. The question may arise: What if the United Nations Security Council had gone along with the U.S.-U.K. project? Why would that have put India under some kind of moral obligation to send its soldiers to Iraq? However, these questions are purely academic at this juncture. If there is need for explanation, it should relate primarily to why the Government delayed its decision for so long, allowing free play to forces willing to contemplate a surrender of the independence of India's foreign policy and a sacrifice of its vital interests in the West Asian region. Those who argued that India could demonstrate its `great power' status by serving, in essence, as a junior partner in the military occupation of Iraq, and that permanent membership of the U.N. Security Council and lucrative contracts might follow, were taken perhaps too seriously for the national good. The argument was also put forward that if India passed up the opportunity, Pakistan might grab it. It is reassuring that the Government decided eventually to reject such irresponsible and demeaning arguments.

Having taken the right and sensible decision, the Indian Government must now act in conjunction with other countries to put pressure on the U.S. and the U.K. to disengage from Iraq — by agreeing, among other things, to give primacy to the United Nations in the task of rehabilitation and reconstruction. Any Indian effort towards healing the grievous wounds suffered continuously over the past decade by the people of Iraq should be undertaken strictly under the umbrella of the world body. If residual doubt remains in any policy-maker's mind about the wisdom of saying `no' to the U.S., it should be removed by the growing troubles the occupation forces face in Iraq. The attacks on American and British soldiers on the streets of Baghdad and outside and growing civilian unrest and resistance underline the hollowness of the Bush administration's earlier triumphalism. These realities are becoming evident amid revelations that both the Bush administration and the Blair Government doctored intelligence reports to suit their war project.

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